Prey
by Demonic Irken
Summary: Bendy tries to kill Henry and stuff.
1. Chapter 1

Henry was running for his life. He knew something seemed off about this place the moment he stepped foot through the door, that he shouldn't have come here. He raced through the halls of the mostly deserted building, save for him and the murderous cartoon character that was currently stalking him.

His pursuer rounded the corner, giggling and wielding an axe in his right hand. "Henry, come on, don't be like this!" Bendy called out, taunting him, "Let's sit down and talk, OK?" Henry knew that the Demon would find him eventually, and kill him once he did. He HAD just brutally slaughtered Sammy, after all.

The former cartoon animator looked around him for a place to hide. He saw a closet in the corner and quickly slid into it, shutting the door. He held his breath as he heard Bendy coming closer, now whistling an eerie tune. "Heeennnry. I'm gonna get you." He said in a sing-song voice.

He paused briefly near Henry's hiding place, then moved on, continuing down the hallway. Henry waited a few more seconds, waiting until he couldn't hear Bendy's footfalls anymore, before emerging from the closet.

He could faintly hear Bendy's calls still, "What's the matter, Henry? You don't like your old pal Bendy no more?"

Henry decided to go the opposite direction, away from the cheery voice. He headed in the direction of the orchestra room, where there would be plenty of space, and he would be able to see Bendy better, if he were to be caught there.

He heard whistling coming from deeper within the old workplace, and then there was the sound of equipment breaking. "Henry, this isn't funny anymore! Come out and let ol' Bendy take care of ya!"

Then there was silence.

Until Bendy began humming loudly, his voice echoing down the halls. He began singing, "Maybe you'll think of me, when you're all alone. Maybe the one who is waiting for you, will prove untrue. Then what will you do?" Henry found the Ink creature's singing to be very unsettling.

He shivered, even though it was only mildly cold, and quickly went in the opposite direction again. Bendy was getting irritated, "Come on, Henry! I just wanna have some fun! Come over here and play with me!"

Henry waded through an ink-flooded section of the hall, almost having a heart attack when a Searcher jumped out of the Ink.

Henry let out a cry of fright, alerting Bendy to his location, and hit the Searcher with his axe. Bendy quickly began running towards the sound of his cries. "My friends just want a little company! Let them entertain you!"

Henry panted, yelling, "Why are you trying to hurt me? What did I do to you?"

Bendy appeared at the end of the corridor, across from the cartoon animator.

"That's the thing, Henry. You didn't do nothin'! I'm just bored is all, and this is how I have my fun!" Nothin' personal, pal. Joey didn't send that letter, ya see. I did. I wanted you to come here. Imagine my surprise when you took the bait. I haven't had this much fun in a long time!"

Henry tried to run, but Bendy jumped into the pool of ink and popped up in front of him, smiling that creepy grin of his, then wrapped a gloved hand round his throat. He giggled maniacally and whispered, "I'm gonna enjoy watching you die, Henry."

Everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

Henry woke up in a chair. He tried to move, but found that he couldn't. He looked down at his hands. They were tied to the chair with rope, and so were his feet. He looked around him, trying to figure out where he was. He was still in the studio. He didn't bother trying to call out for help, knowing that no one would hear him. Instead, he focused on attempting to break free of his bonds.

Henry was startled when a voice pierced the darkness, "I wouldn't try to escape, friend. You'll only make things worse for yourself." Bendy emerged from the shadows, smiling his trademark grin.

Henry tried a different approach. "Can't we just settle this like men?"

Bendy laughed, "Oh, Henry, I'm not a man. Soon you won't be, either. You see, I get lonely here all by myself. I need someone to keep me company, to entertain me when I get bored, which is quite often nowadays, considering the circumstances. And no, before you ask, those Searchers are not good company." The cartoon animator kept silent, wondering what the Demon had in mind.

Bendy clapped his gloved hands together dramatically, "So! That being said, here's the deal: I won't kill you if you agree to be my new playmate. I'll just make a few changes to your physical body, and then I'll set you free and we'll be good to go! How does that sound?"

Henry responded by spitting in the toons face.

Bendy wiped his face and sighed, "Hm. That's unfortunate. I was hoping I could be nice, but I guess you don't want that. You humans are always so… defiant. Why fight this? This is gonna happen no matter what you do, so you might as well accept your fate." He gripped the back of the chair and began dragging it down the hall, toward the Ink Machine.

Henry did not plead for his life, did not try to bargain with the toon. After all, Bendy was right, there would be no point in it. He had obviously made up his mind. There was no getting out of this. He continued trying to free himself, to no avail. The Demon had tied the knots too tight. The only way to get them off was if they were cut.

Bendy had been rambling the whole time, "…I mean, don't get me wrong, Sammy was super helpful and an extremely devoted servant, but once he captured you, he kinda outlived his usefulness, you know what I'm saying?"

Henry shook his head, "No, I really don't."

Bendy rolled his pie-shaped eyes, "Of course you don't." He muttered under his breath.

He stopped dragging the chair and turned to face his prisoner at eye-level, "I'm trying to explain myself here, trying to tell you why I'm doing this in detail, but you're not listening, are you? I can tell. You have that far away look in your eyes." He gripped the sides of his head in frustration. "No one ever listens to me. The only thing they all want from me is to dance, and to keep people happy. No one cares about me, about how I feel. All Joey cared about was money, and fame. Nothing else. And then, when they killed Boris, just opened him up right in front of me…"

He turned away for a second, and Henry could see inky tears coming out of the toons eyes. Bendy wiped them away and continued ranting, "That was the last straw. So I killed them all. Every single one of them, heard their screams as I ripped them apart. But that didn't bring Boris back. He was my best friend. You can't possibly imagine the pain I was feeling, that I'm still feeling." He started crying again.

Henry was surprised by this sudden change in behavior. He didn't know what to do or how to respond to that. He settled for trying to console the small creature. "Bendy, look at me." The cartoon Demon did so. "I know it's hard right now, I do. But it will get better, you'll come to terms with it and eventually you'll accept it and move on." Bendy held up a hand for silence. "I'll tell you right now, Henry, I will never move on. It will never get easier, not ever."

"You don't know that, Bendy."

"Yes, I do!" Bendy growled, "Every time I close my eyes at night all I can dream about is his death. Every single night. I'm not getting better, I'm getting worse! He was the only one I could talk to about anything, and now he's gone! And he's never coming back."

"And you think hurting me is gonna help you feel better?"

Bendy shook his head, "No, I don't. I'll feel worse, actually. I always do."

"So maybe you shouldn't do this."

The Demon whimpered, "You don't understand, I have to do this! I need to feel happy again, like when he was alive. I want to be loved! I deserve to be loved!"

Henry looked at him sympathetically, "Yes, you do. Everyone does. You are no exception. Tell you what: how about I call a few of my friends and make some arrangements to get this place running again, and maybe hire some new workers and stuff, people that will treat you with love, kindness, and respect, and who won't brutally murder your friends. What do you say?"

"You-You'd do that? After all I did to you?"

Henry smiled, "Sure I would, as long as you promise never to do it again."

Bendy nodded, "I promise."

Henry nodded, "Good. Now, maybe you could untie me so that I can make some calls?"

Bendy did so, apologizing for his acting out, while Henry talked to some friends in the animation and music department. A few days later, the place was filled with animation directors and storyboard artists, and everything else needed to make a cartoon. And Bendy even managed to make a few new friends.

Everything would be okay now, like it used to be.


End file.
